Rawle Lucas

Small Flame As Guyanese gradually settle into the New Year and the trading season for 2013 gets on the way, it is a good time to review the performance of the Guyana Stock Exchange (GSE) during 2012. 

Access updates The Guyana Revenue Authority employs the internet plentiful in its administration, management and enforcement of the revenue activities of the country. 

Motion Sir Isaac Newton helped us to gain a better understanding of the world in which we live when he explained what happens to an object that was in motion. 

A low-tax plan It was recently reported in the Stabroek News that the President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) expressed the view that modifying the personal and corporate tax rates would be a good thing for the Guyana economy. 

Infamous Offenders Even as a reconfigured parliament begins the slow but necessary process of forcing changes to the bad management practices of the government and bringing increased accountability to the use of public funds, Guyanese must again endure the embarrassment of being among some of the worst perpetrators of corruption. 

Declining Participation Unions in Guyana are not as strong as they used to be and many of the institutions that supported workers have either been weakened or otherwise undermined. 

Loan Portfolio The most recent quarterly statistics from the Bank of Guyana show a mixed picture of the lending patterns of the commercial banks in Guyana. 

Conflicts occur The year is almost at an end, but there are already indications of how the country would perform in 2012.

Historic development The global financial crisis which hit the world four years ago continues to produce aftershocks which are altering the global economic and financial formations. 

Location of the Burden As was observed last week, evidence to suggest that VAT had not led to a reduction in tax evasion might exist. 

Directly Involved The value-added tax or VAT as it is more frequently called was introduced in Guyana in the year 2007 to replace the Consumption and other taxes which, ironically, were not consciously paid by the consumers. 

Dull Atmosphere Despite nearly one year of tentative and inconsistent governance, the Guyana economy is set to record another year of growth. 

(Final part) Diaspora Aid There is little doubt that the development of Guyana over the last 20 years has been driven, in part, by the massive resource input of money, goods and skills contributed by the Guyana Diaspora. 

Attractive Despite the pressure from other countries on the human capital of Guyana and other developing countries, there are benefits to having a diaspora. 

Personal The decision to leave one’s country is a personal one, and as is often the case, the reasons are linked to ambition, economics, and safety and security. 

Diaspora Unit Many years after they left the country for a variety of reasons, and settled in other places around the globe, the diaspora that Guyanese became is now a focus of the Guyana Government. 

Small size Quite often Guyanese lament the small size of their economy, but just for one time, they might be glad that their country is small. 

Volatility There is much volatility in the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Guyana. 

By Rawle Lucas Reluctance Guyanese are going through a catharsis brought on by the new distribution of political power and a growing sense that their new found influence will eventually break down the stone wall of corruption that was built under the previous administration.